Youth Work in Croatia: Collecting Pieces for a Mosaic |
| |
| Authors: | Emina Bužinkić Bojana Ćulum Martina Horvat Marko Kovačić |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Centre for Peace Studies, Zagreb, Croatiabculum@ffri.hr;3. Department of Pedagogy, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia;4. Education Centre, Association GONG, Zagreb, Croatia;5. Institute for Social Research in Zagreb, Center for Youth and Gender Studies, Zagreb, Croatia |
| |
| Abstract: | This article explores the historical development of youth work in Croatia. By drawing from available data and personal experience, we describe three key phases of youth work development in a post-conflict country: (a) the period of the early 1990s as a “direct peace building" youth work; (b) the rise of nonformal education during the mid and late 1990s; and (c) the growth of a networked youth sector and its focus on youth policy advocacy starting in 2000. In addition, we refer to today's context, particularly because of its project-management orientation. Such categorization highlights various practices that we consider to represent youth work in a specific and contested national framework. Work with young people with fewer opportunities is being presented as a case, building on our observation that contemporary youth work continues to be embedded in civil society development and nonformal education, facing challenges of funding-driven discourse and unsystematic support. |
| |
| Keywords: | historical perspective social exclusion of youth youth with fewer opportunities youth work |
|
|
